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Violinist and composer, Shandy Phillips, is a 1992 graduate of Starkville High School. She received her Bachelor of Music Degree (1996) from The Juilliard School in New York City where she was a scholarship recipient and student of Margaret Pardee. Although she was a violin performance major, her growing interest in composition led her to go beyond her degree requirements and explore this field.

Shandy received her Master of Music Degree from The Boston Conservatory (1998) where she studied with Zinaida Gilels and where she was the recipient of The Conservatory Scholarship. While pursuing her performance degree, she took advantage of the opportunity to study composition formally. In 2007 she was awarded the Graduate Diploma in Violin Performance also from The Boston Conservatory where she again received The Conservatory Scholarship while studying under Mr. Lynn Chang. In addition to her academic studies, Shandy has had the opportunity to work with world-renowned musicians James Buswell, Bayla Keyes, Joseph Silverstein, Cornelia Heard, and Rhonda Ryder.

While living in Boston she worked as a freelance solo violinist and performed in orchestral and chamber music settings. For several years, she was the violinist in SKY, a Boston-based trio that regularly performed classical and jazz styles from around the world in addition to members’ own compositions.

Shandy was also an active performer while living in New York City. She has had several performances in Lincoln Center. As a recording artist, Shandy appears on such CD releases as The Hudson Oratorio (1992) by Frederick Rich. In 1993 she was selected from violinists around the world to perform in the International Music Program Orchestra, traveling and concertizing in Europe and filming the event for public television.

As a composer Shandy has received several commissions including a quartet for flute ensemble that was performed in Boston (1998). The premiere of her Sonata for Two Violins featured Shandy and Ima Jonsdottir (a recording artist with Björk) at the French Library in Boston. Other commissions include a sonata for flute and organ (premiered in Starkville in February 2009) and a sonata for violin and piano that she presented in recital in Boston (May 2009). Shandy received the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award in classical music composition for this sonata.

Shandy Phillips is a frequent soloist with and member of the Starkville MSU Symphony Orchestra. In winter 2011, the symphony will premiere one of her compositions written specifically for this orchestra.